Tori Hartman

After a crushing 9-0 loss to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins back on Jan. 29, the motto of “don’t poke the bear” was on full display last night. The Hershey Bears roared to a 5-4 revenge victory, courtesy of stellar performances from Hendrix Lapierre and Spencer Smallman. Last night’s matchup marked the sixth time this season these Atlantic Division foes have met. The Bears now boast a record of 3-3-0-0 in head-to-head matchups against the Penguins this season. Additionally, all 9,535 fans in attendance received a Hersheypark pass valid for one day admission through June 30, 2025. 

Last night’s starting goaltenders had opposite stat lines: Joel Blomqvist aimed to improve upon his 0-2 record against the Hershey Bears, while Hunter Shepard sought to remain undefeated against the Penguins.

First Period:

The first period of action resembled a scene from The Fast and the Furious movie series, as both teams were all gas and no brakes. Early on, Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton traded chances at both ends of the ice, but 4:40 into the first period, the new kid on the block got the party started for Hershey.

Veteran center Garrett Roe won the faceoff back, and Andrew Perrott, a newly called-up defenseman from Hershey’s ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays, fired a shot from the right circle that went bar down. Perrott’s first shot became his first AHL goal, and just like that, Hershey seized the momentum with an early lead.

“I’m excited,” Perrott said. “I was really happy and fortunate. Roe drew up the play right before the faceoff, and it came right to me. It was a great call by him, and I was lucky to put it in the back of the net. I’m just glad I could help the team win in some way.”

During his time with the South Carolina Stingrays, Perrott recorded 21 total points in 43 games played. Perrott was averaging 0.50 points per game and was leading the ECHL in major penalty minutes with eight. It was announced on Feb. 7 that Hershey signed the native of Columbia Station, Ohio to an AHL contract for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season.

Then, At 7:30 into the first period, Emil Bemström rejuvenated the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins’ bench by rifling a shot past the blocker of Shepard. This was Bemström’s 20th goal of the season, and Owen Pickering was given credit for the primary assist. Bemström has been an absolute menace against Hershey this season, as he has scored 10 points in six games, with four of those points being registered in the 9-0 loss on Jan. 29.

After both sides were knotted up at one, the flood gates officially opened at 9:32 in the first period, as Hendrix Lapierre hit the shake and bake and squeaked the puck between the wickets of Bloomquist. Lapierre was able to utilize his elusive speed to power around the Penguins defensive pairing, and drove right down broadway to secure his first goal of the season.

“I came off the bench, and someone made a nice play that allowed the puck to settle on the ice,” says Lapierre. “I was the first to get it and saw the defenseman on the other side was flat-footed, so I took it outside and used my speed. I like that move on a breakaway, so I’m glad it worked out.”

Lapierre started the 2024-25 season playing up with the Washington Capitals, and managed to produce 8 points in 27 games played. Lapierre was the recent recipient of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy, an award recognizing the MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

At 11:14 in the first period, Ethan Bear decided to join the scoring party. Bear unloaded a clapper from the nearside faceoff dot for his seventh goal on the year. Assists were awarded to Spencer Smallman and Nick Leivermann.

Frustration began to boil over for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, and Aaron Ness was the unfortunate victim of a nasty hit from behind. Once the Bears took notice of what happened to their captain, Justin Nachbaur wasted little time exacting his retribution. Nachbaur got the crowd fired up after taking Nikolai Knyzhov down in a spirited tilt. The scrum resulted in the ejection of Smith and Nachbaur, and the on ice officials assed 55 minutes in penalties combined between both teams.

After the smoke cleared, Lapierre was assessed a two-minute tripping penalty at 16:23. The penalty gave the Penguins a chance to close the gap, and Valtteri Puustinen took advantage, weaving through Hershey’s penalty-killing unit to score his fifth goal of the season.

This high octane period would finally come to a close with Hershey going into the locker room up 3-2. The shot totals were near even, as Hershey was able to muster 14 total shots while Wilkes-Barre Scranton posted 10. 

Second Period:

Prior to the start of the second period, head coach Todd Nelson was tasked with rearranging the lineups due to the ejections that occurred at the end of the first.

“When Smitty and Nachbaur were tossed for the second period, I rolled Philp’s line with Riley Sutter and doubled them up,” said Nelson. “In the third, I went with Lapierre’s line, doubled up again, and they did a good job.”

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was looking to shift the momentum, but an early tripping penalty on Filip Král did not bode in their favor. “Mr. Roar” himself, Mike Vecchione, cashed in at 3:23 of the second period. It was his fourth power-play goal of the season, assisted by Lapierre and Bear.

While chances were plentiful for both sides throughout the remainder of the second period, Vecchione would have the lone tally, giving the Bears a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame.

Third Period:

At 4:04 into the third period, Avery Hayes split the defense and slid the puck right underneath Sheppard for his 11th goal on the year. Pickering and Johnstone picked up the assists.

With time dwindling away, Wilkes-Barre Scarnton resorted to pulling Blomqvist in order to gain an extra attacker, but Spencer Smallman made the Penguins pay for taking this risk. With two minutes remaining in the third, Smallman hit the empty netter, and seemed to have delivered the final blow.

The Penguins’ offensive attack was relentless, and just when it seemed like the game was sealed, Hollowell used a screen in front to blast a shot past Sheppard in the closing minutes of the third period. This Wilkes-Barre team was still undeterred, and with two seconds left, Boris Katchouk was able to deflect the initial shot from the point past Shepard. 

The entire Bears bench was up in arms, as it clearly seemed like Katchouk’s stick was positioned above the crossbar when the shot was deflected. After a lengthy review, the on ice officials sided with the Hershey Bears. 

In the end, Hershey escapes in a narrow contest clinging to a 5-4 rivalry victory.

“Play like men, come out, and work hard, outwork your opponent, win puck battles,” says Nelson. “We made quite a few changes since the last game. I know some guys are sick but this was the lineup we were going to go with anyways. They came out and played a really good game. The guys we inserted played outstanding. Suzdalev was great, Hofer was outstanding, Nachbaur and Smith, they did their job. Perrot, excellent. We played a really strong game and I thought we deserved it. They’re a good hockey team over there. You can’t let up on them, but the game was probably closer than it should have been.”

Looking ahead:

The Hershey Bears are gearing up for a road trip where they will rematch the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza. The Bears will not return home until Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m. for Penn State Health Drawstring Bag Night. All fans in attendance will receive a Bears drawstring bag, courtesy of Penn State Health. Purchase tickets by clicking here.